Dec 24th: A Day for Remembrance
by Cka3ka
Summary: A Belayed Christmas One Shot. Please take a moment of your time and read it. It is a prequel for a Gh/V.


Disclaimer: DBZ doesn't belong to me. It belongs to little Japanese businessmen.

 December 24th: a Day for Remembrance

Cka3ka

_4pm__ on December 24th , The year that Mirai no Trunks came with a warning…_

"Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way! Oh what fun it is to ride a one horse open sleigh. HEY!" chorused the three person family. Christmas was a time of festivities and for this family it was no different. Though they were living on the borderline of poverty, they still struggled to make this time of year a joyous one, especially for their little girl. Both Hercule Satan and his wife treasured their one and only child. 

This year had been hard on the Satan's. Mr. Satan hadn't won any competitions at all and had been forced to take a job at a nearby restaurant. His wife was working as an underpaid secretary in a typing pool that had long hours and paid little compensation. Money was tight, especially this year as Mrs. Satan hadn't received a Christmas bonus like she usually did. It was never much, maybe 100 Zeni or so, but it helped. The family barely made rent this month for their small apartment and they didn't have more than a few dollars to spend on presents after shopping for Christmas dinner. 

Despite their financial woes, Mr. Satan and his family made the best of things. They had an old beat up radio and they had found a station that was playing Christmas carols. The family had gotten together and started singing them, each taking a turn and sometimes singing them together. It wasn't much of a celebration compared to others. They didn't travel to warm beach resorts or go skiing at prime ski locations around the world. For them, this simple act of togetherness was enough. Mr. Satan couldn't help but feel as if he were the luckiest man alive as he watched the gleam of happiness in his daughter's eyes. As with all emotions, happiness was contagious and he could feel it radiating from his wife as well. That made him glow all the more on the inside. His wife and daughter, that's all he needed in this world. Even if he never became the martial arts champion of the world, which he was determined to be, he would be content with what he had. He would strive for his goal, but he knew that he had something special here at home and he would always put that first. The old motto of _Take care of what you have before you seek something new_ was something he firmly believed in.

Mrs. Satan looked at the clock and saw that it was 4pm. "Oh dear!" she exclaimed. "I'd better check on that turkey and get the rest of dinner started. 

"Mama, can I help?" asked little Videl. "I'm old enough now. I can help!" 

"Of course you can dear," replied Mrs. Satan. She reached into the fridge and pulled out a bowl of mashed potatoes. They were already milled but they hadn't been whipped yet. "Here's some potatoes all mashed up. Can you whip them for mama? You know how right Videl?"

"Yes I do!" cried Videl with a serious look on her face. She took a spatula and began to earnestly whip the mashed potatoes as best as she could. Her earnest expression of concentration was priceless. Mr. Satan couldn't help but sneak away and flash a picture of his little girl working away. 

"Hercule, can you get everything out?" asked his wife after he had taken the picture and put the camera down at the table.  

"Of course dear," replied Mr. Satan. He began to pull the various ingredients out of the fridge that they needed to make dinner. The two were a well honed couple. They worked together side by side cutting the ingredients up.

"Mama, I think I'm done," said Videl after about five minutes. "Can you take a look?"

"Sure thing sweetie." Mrs. Satan took the potatoes from Videl and smiled at her little girl. "Good job Videl. You did it perfectly."

Videl beamed a smile at her parents and then asked, "Is there anything else I can help with?"

"How about you set the table sweet pea?" said Mr. Satan as he reached up and pulled the old well used dishes from the cabinet. "You know how to do it right?"

Videl rolled her eyes. "Of course I know how to do it daddy. I do it all the time."

Mr. Satan smiled and then went back to help his wife prepare dinner. A minute later there was a flash and both parents turned to see Videl standing on a chair waving the camera laughing. 

"Videl!" cried Mrs. Satan. "Be careful with that. It's expensive."

"Oh don't worry honey," chided Mr. Satan gently. "She's a careful girl and knows what she's doing. Let her have a little fun." Turning to Videl, he said, "How about we take a picture of all of us together Videl?" Mr. Satan washed off his hands and after drying them, he walked over and set the timer on the camera. Grabbing Videl and tossing her on his shoulder, he ran back to stand next to his wife. "MR. SATAN!" he cried as he flashed the camera a victory sign, "THE GREATEST MARTIAL ARTIST IN THE WORLD!" His wife laughed and threw her arms around him and at the same time Videl, who sat on her father's broad shoulder threw her arms up and shouted, "YAY! DADDY!" With a bright flash the camera captured the scene with all its joyous emotion.

A little while later the family had finished up dinner preparations. Food was set on the table and all that remained was for the turkey to be finished. 

"Look Mommy, Daddy!" exclaimed Videl with glee in her voice. "It's snowing!"

Mr. and Mrs. Satan smiled at the joy in their daughter's voice. Mr. Satan walked up next to his daughter by the window and took a peek outside. Sure enough the snow was coming down gently. A thin layer already covered the streets. It was going to be a beautiful white Christmas. It was almost as if it was out of a fairytale.

Mrs. Satan quietly padded up next to her husband and whispered into his ear, "Did you wrap up Videl's present?"

Mr. Satan smiled and kissed his wife on the cheek. "Yes, honey I did." They knew that Videl really wanted a new doll, but the young couple hadn't been able to afford one this year for their daughter. Instead, Mr. Satan had hand carved a little horse out of some scrap wood he had gathered. It wasn't really nice, but he had put his heart into it and tried his best to make it look real. His wife had taken time to color it and tried to make it as finished as possible. "I hope she's happy with it. One day, I hope we'll be able to buy her something really nice."

"Don't worry dear," reassured Mrs. Satan. "I know she'll love it. She adores you." She then looked around to make sure everything was ready. She had a feeling that something was missing. "Oh no… I forgot to get the eggnog."

"What dear? Eggnog? Don't worry dear it's no big deal."

"Yeah mommy," said Videl overhearing the latter part of the conversation. "It's no big deal."

"No no… I know how much you love it Videl. Let me run out to the grocery store really quick before it closes," she said grabbing her coat and the car keys to their old beat up car. "I'll be back before you know it." She gave her family a smile and ran out the door.

Mr. Satan and Videl both shrugged. It would only take about ten or fifteen minutes for Mrs. Satan to get back, so it was no big deal. They went back to finishing up the last of the preparations.

Forty minutes later, Mr. Satan was getting worried. His wife was late. It shouldn't have taken her this long. He could see Videl getting antsy as well. "Hey sweet pea, how about we watch some TV?" he asked as he turned on the television and sat Videl down next to him.

"Daddy, where's mommy?" asked Videl. She was getting hungry, but she knew she shouldn't eat without her mother there so she waited.

"Don't worry honey. She'll be back soon. I'm sure there was just a long line or something," answered her father. He was beginning to get sick with worry.

An hour later, Mr. Satan was frantic. It'd almost been two hours and she definitely should have been back. However, he didn't want Videl to worry so he tried not to let it show. Knowing that his little girl was really hungry he decided that it was probably best that she get a little food in her. "Hey Videl, how about we start eating," he said as he went over to the oven and turned it off. He wasn't a great cook, but he knew the bird was done by now.

"No daddy. We have to wait for mommy. It's not polite to start eating without her. It would be rude."

"How about this Videl, I know you're hungry so let's take a small snack and take the edge off, ok? And when mommy gets back we can eat together."

Videl thought about this and slowly nodded. Relieved slightly, Mr. Satan got a plate and spooned a small bit of all the side dishes onto it and handed it to Videl. The two of them then sat down in front of the TV and ate quietly.

Another hour had passed when the phone rang. Mr. Satan ran to it. He was worried beyond belief and quite angry as well. If something had happened she should have called earlier. It wasn't like her to make him worry like this. Picking up the phone he sharply asked, "Where are you? Videl and I are worried sick!"

"Excuse me, is this the Satan Residence?" asked a male voice on the other end of the line.

"Oh. Sorry about that. I thought you were someone else. This is Hercule Satan, who's this?" said Mr. Satan a bit gruffly.

"Sir, I'm Officer Baen from the Orange City police. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, on this of all days, but there's been an accident."

"What? Is she ok?" he asked. There was only one thing that was on his mind at the moment, his wife. Something had happened and now the aching feeling of worry inside his chest was threatening to tear him apart. He could feel his mouth get dry and his heart thumping.

"Sir… I'm sorry but your wife was in an accident. I'm afraid that she didn't make it. She was killed."

Hercule didn't hear anything after he heard the words _she was killed_. Time seemed to freeze and he let the phone slip from his hands. Then he turned and looked at Videl. It was obvious by the expectant look on her face that she was waiting to hear what had happened. He barely heard her words when she asked, "Daddy? Was that mommy? When is she coming home?"

_When is she coming home._ Hearing those words, tears began to fall freely down his cheek. He ran over to his daughter and embraced her tightly while his heart was breaking.

"Daddy? Daddy? What's wrong?" cried Videl as her father's distress began to creep into her. She started to cry softly into her father's chest.

"Videl… mommy… mommy won't be coming home. She's going to go to heaven and it'll be a while before we see her again," he said through his own sobs. His heart broke even more when he heard his daughter stop breathing for a moment.

"Daddy… Heaven is where people go when they pass away!!!" she cried, anguish evident in her voice. "Mommy can't go to heaven… she's got to come HOME!"

Hercule leaned back and looked at his daughter. Her face was streaked by tears. "Videl… sweat pea…." He was at a lost for words. How does a father tell his seven year old girl that her mother has passed away? What words can ease the pain of the pain and confusion she was surely feeling at the moment? Hercule didn't know. He didn't know what to say. He just hugged her and let her cry against his chest while his own tears streamed down into her hair. Christmas would never be the same for Hercule and Videl Satan. It would never be a day of celebration again. It would be, instead, a day of sorrow, a day that they remembered the loss of someone they loved with all their being. It would be a day of remembrance.  

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Cka3ka: *Wipes a tear away with a tissue* 

I hope you all liked this fic. I started to write this a few days before Christmas, but it was far too depressing for me to finish. I wanted a try at a fiction that would tug at the heart and bring a tear to the eye, well I hope that my meager writing skills accomplished that at least. This fic is the prologue to my new Videl/Gohan fic. Don't worry, that fic won't be this depressing, but it will definitely not be conventional. I'm really hoping to make it emotional and I hope you'll all join me for the ride.

Please take a moment to review and let me know what you thought of this one shot.

Best Regards,

Cka3ka.   


End file.
